Rickmansworth School | |
---|---|
Address | |
Scots Hill , , WD3 3AQ | |
Coordinates | 51°38′42″N0°27′22″W / 51.645°N 0.456°W |
Information | |
Type | Academy |
Motto | Nisi Dominus Aedificaverit [1] |
Established | 1954 |
Department for Education URN | 136606 Tables |
Ofsted | Reports |
Chair of Governors | Tony Walker |
Headteacher | Mr Matthew Fletcher |
Staff | 100 approx. |
Gender | Mixed |
Age | 11to 18 |
Enrolment | 1400 |
Houses | Bury Inns Springwell Stockers |
Former name | Rickmansworth Grammar School |
Website | http://www.rickmansworth.herts.sch.uk |
Rickmansworth School is a co-educational secondary school and sixth form in Croxley Green, Hertfordshire, near the town of Rickmansworth.
Founded as a grammar school in 1953, the school became comprehensive in 1969, and an academy in 2011. Today, the school is partially selective, accepting 25% of the Year 7 intake based on tests in mathematics and verbal reasoning, and 10% on musical aptitude, with the remaining intake being comprehensive.
The school stands in twenty-six acres of Metropolitan Green Belt woodland situated in a residential area well served by road and rail, on the south side of the A412 road. The M25 motorway is five minutes distance by car, and Croxley and Rickmansworth Metropolitan line stations are ten- and fifteen-minute walks respectively. Watford Junction station (National Rail to London Euston) is fifteen to twenty minutes by car.
Rickmansworth Grammar School was the fifth grammar school to be built after the war. The school was built on the site of a house called Briery Close, which had been the residence of the vicar of Rickmansworth but had fallen vacant before the war. [2] Because building at the site ran late, the first intake in September 1953 was housed in a school in Oxhey, until the Scots Hill premises opened in September 1954. [3] The school was formally opened on 20 June 1956 by Countess Mountbatten of Burma. In the mid-1960s it had around 940 boys and girls, and was situated in 18 acres (7.3 ha) of land. [4]
In September 1969 the school ceased to be academically selective and became fully comprehensive. The School was maintained as a county school by the Hertfordshire local education authority until September 1990, when it was among the first schools in the country to take advantage of the opportunity offered by grant-maintained status to become a self-governing school. [5]
In 2003 the school was designated as a specialist Arts College, with a major focus on performing arts, and in April 2008 was awarded a second specialism as in Science. The school continues with the specialisms today.
On 1 April 2011, Rickmansworth School officially converted to an academy.
In May 2013, Stephen Burton, who had been headmaster for 13 years, had decided to step down. [6] In July 2013, it was announced that Keith Douglas was to become the school's new headmaster in January 2014. [7] The current headteacher of Rickmansworth School is Matthew Fletcher. [8]
The school appeared in an episode of the BBC comedy That Mitchell and Webb Look in the sketch "The Surprising Adventures of Sir Digby Chicken-Caesar", in which the heroic duo break into the house of an elderly woman, tie her up and pretend that they are visiting "Dear Auntie Marigold". They steal her television and are pursued. Ginger is beaten up. They break into Rickmansworth School and steal scientific equipment in order to make crystal meth.
Its standing in comparison with the national average is very favourable at GCSE level and A Level. [9] Its results at GCSE and A level are similar to a grammar school.[ citation needed ]
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 mi (24 km) north-west of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne.
Rickmansworth is a town in south-west Hertfordshire, England, located approximatly 17 miles (27 km) north-west of central London, 5 miles (8 km) south-west of Watford and inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway. The town is mainly to the north of the Grand Union Canal and the River Colne.
Three Rivers is a local government district in south-west Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Rickmansworth. The district borders Hertsmere, Watford, St Albans, Dacorum, Buckinghamshire, and the London boroughs of Hillingdon and Harrow.
Croxley Green is both a village and a suburb of Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire, England. It is also a civil parish. Located on the A412 between Watford to the north-east and Rickmansworth to the south-west, it is approximately 20 miles (32 km) north-west of central London.
Croxley is a London Underground station located on Watford Road (A412) in Croxley Green, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, on the Watford branch of the Metropolitan line. It is the only intermediate station on the branch between Moor Park, on the main line from Baker Street to Amersham, and the terminus at Watford.
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Watford High Street is a railway station in Watford, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. It is served by the Watford DC line on the London Overground network. It is the only station on the line's sole deviation from the West Coast Main Line.
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The Watford and Rickmansworth Railway (W&RR) ran services between Watford and Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire, England. The company was incorporated in 1860; the line opened in 1862. The Rickmansworth branch was closed in 1952, and the remaining line was gradually run down and eventually closed in 1996.
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Queens' School, near Watford, Hertfordshire, is a partially selective secondary school and sixth form with academy status. It currently is a specialist science and sports college.
The Croxley Rail Link, or the Metropolitan Line Extension, is a proposed railway engineering project in the Watford and Three Rivers districts of Hertfordshire, England, that would have connected the London Overground and the London Underground's Metropolitan line at Watford Junction. If the link were to go ahead, the Metropolitan line's terminus at Watford Underground station would be closed and the line diverted and extended from Croxley to Watford Junction via a reopened section of closed line. The main proponent of the scheme was Hertfordshire County Council but it failed to win the support of Transport for London (TfL) which owns the Watford branch. The engineering works would have consisted of the realignment of the disused Watford and Rickmansworth Railway's line between Croxley Green and Watford High Street, with the construction of a viaduct over the Grand Union Canal, River Gade and A412 road and two new stations before branching into the London Overground line near Watford High Street and continuing to Watford Junction.
Maricourt Catholic School, in Maghull, Merseyside, United Kingdom, formerly Mater Misericordiae Grammar School, was one of two Roman Catholic secondary schools administered by the Sisters of Mercy in Merseyside, the other being Broughton Hall, West Derby. The school celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007 with the new headmaster Brendan McLoughlin. The former headteacher Sister Mary Teresa RSM BSc was the last of the Sisters to be Head the school and ceased her duties in 2007, opting to remain as deputy chair of the Board of Governors. The school offered both GCSE and Advanced Level qualifications for male and female students.
The Cavendish School was a secondary school in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire that first opened in 1959 as a grammar school, becoming a comprehensive school in 1970. It was named after the University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory. The Cavendish School closed in 2018 and reopened as Laureate Academy.
Watford Grammar School for Girls is an academy for girls in Watford in Hertfordshire, UK. Despite its name, it is only a partially selective school, with 25% of entrants admitted on academic ability and 10% on musical aptitude.
Marple Hall School is a secondary school located in Marple, Greater Manchester.
Watford Vicarage Road was a proposed London Underground station in Watford, Hertfordshire. The station was proposed to be part of the suspended Croxley Rail Link project, a scheme to extend the Metropolitan line to Watford Junction railway station, which would've been served by Metropolitan line trains between Watford Junction and Central London via Baker Street. Originally the station was to be named either Watford Hospital or Watford General Hospital. On 25 January 2017, the Watford Observer newspaper published an update on the Croxley Rail Link confirming work had stopped as there was an ongoing funding issue.
Watford Central, a planned London Underground station in the centre of Watford, Hertfordshire, was to be the terminus of a proposed extension of the Metropolitan line from the present-day Watford tube station to the High Street opposite Clarendon Road. The proposed station booking hall has long gone, however, the facade was retained and a new building constructed behind it. It is now The Moon Under Water public house.
Nisi Dominus aedificaverit domum in vanum laboraverunt qui aedificant eam. trans. (KJV): Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it.